Oxford Street is a smorgasboard of shopping which lines a long thoroughfare that snakes through the city of Sydney from the south-east corner of Hyde Park in the CBD to Bondi Junction (another shopping mecca) in the Eastern Suburbs.
At the CBD end, the strip is lined with a number of bars and nightclubs, of which the overwhelming majority are focused on Sydney's gay community. There are also a number of discount shops and sex shops.
Move along past
Taylor Square and you begin to your crawl through one of Sydney's most famous and upmarket shopping strips. Here you'll find scores of fashion and homeware stores from many of Australia's most prominent fashion and home décor identities such as
Zimmermann,
Marcs,
Kirrily Johnston,
Scanlan and Theodore and
Alannah Hill.
Be warned though – shopping along this strip, particularly on weekends, can be hectic. The shops become crowded as Sydney locals and tourists alike take in some retail therapy.
So where to start? Begin your shop on the corner of Oxford and Boundary Streets. From here move along to
Sportsgirl for a fantastically trendy and largely inexpensive frock. If you are not from Oz,
Sportsgirl is akin to Topshop or Zara in Europe or Bannana Republic or Gap in the US.
Continue on past
Ariel and
Berkelouw bookstores (or duck in for a book if you are keen) until you come to the junction between
Glemore Road and Oxford. Here you can check out hip and fabulous Aussie labels
Scanlan and Theodore and
Alannah Hill and
Zimmermann amongst others.
Keep going up the hill to
Kit for wonderful cosmetics. Pass
Paddington Town Hall, before crossing the road for Zomp (ridiculously cool shoes) and
Country Road (Great Aussie chainstore stalwart). Believe it or not your journey is only just beginning! Keep going but make sure you stop into Museum for killer dresses and
Witchery for everyday wear.
Tired? Stop in at the Paddington Inn for a refreshment and then kick on up the strip to the
Paddington Markets. Held on Saturdays, there are over 200 stalls with original hand-made jewels, crafts, second hand clothes and some highly individual fashions.
Can you carry more bags? Continue to the top of
Queens Street to complete the journey. There are plenty more shops. If you want to continue take a left at Queen Street for more fashion. Never ending!
